Union Pacific Railroad

Rock Island Locomotives

(As of April 1980)

Compiled by Don Strack

April 1980 Total: 76 units

As part of a planned merger between Union Pacific Railroad and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P, or simply "Rock Island"), in 1966 Union Pacific purchased a total of 65 locomotives (and an additional 20 more in 1970), along with thousands of cars and 150 cabooses. The locomotives included:

Rock Island worked the GP40s very hard. Over the following 8-10 years, Rock Island's dwindling financial resources forced deferred maintenance on the GP40s, as well as the road's other road power. By 1978 many were out of service because of the heavy work load and lack of regular maintenance, and by the time of the bankruptcy shut-down in late March 1980, many were in storage at its shops in Silvis, Illinois.

All ten units were purchased through an equipment trust jointly held by Railcar Leasing and Union Pacific; upon the CRI&P shut-down on 31 March 1980, CRI&P 415-419 were returned to Railcar Leasing and CRI&P 420-424 were returned to UP; UP retired all five units in December 1980.

b.

ALCO order number 3451.

Notes:

1.

CRI&P 415-419 were returned to owner/lessor, Railcar Leasing Corp., in April 1980; no further disposition known (not counted in quantity returned to UP).

2.

CRI&P 420 was scrapped by UP.

3.

CRI&P 421 was sold to Brandon Corporation, 23 June 1981; used for parts, stored at Omaha, Nebraska, scrapped after February 1990.

4.

CRI&P 422 was sold to Brandon Corporation, 23 June 1981; used for parts, stored at Omaha, Nebraska, scrapped after February 1990.

5.

CRI&P 423 was sold to Brandon Corporation, 23 June 1981; renumbered to Brandon 423, painted in Brandon's sapphire blue in August 1981, stored at Manhattan, Kansas, April 1982; painted gray and lettered for Rail Car America by August 1987; later repainted blue and lettered for Brandon Rail; sold to Buffalo Southern (BSOR), Hamburg, New York, by late 1999 (seen en route at Council Bluffs in October 1999);
still in service during early February 2006. (1999 date from Mike Vana)

6.

CRI&P 424 was sold to Brandon Corporation, 23 June 1981; renumbered to Brandon 424, painted in Brandon's sapphire blue in August 1981; sold to PLM Railcar Maintenance Co., used at Miles City, Mont. (as PLMX 421); then to Pauline, Kansas; stored at Topeka, Kansas, by June 1992; stored at Morris, Kansas, by June 1996, still numbered as 421; seen in transit in Kansas City, Kansas, early 2003; supposed sale not completed and unit stored at Holliday, Kansas (14 miles southwest of Kansas City); still there as of May 2009 (2009 update from Mike Vana, via email from Tim Vana); still there as of August 2011. (2011 update from Jeff Carlson)

Nicholas Pitsch wrote on May 27, 2002:

Brandon Corp. acquired 421 and 422 along with 423 and 424 from the UP,
titleholder to the units after the RI liquidation. 423 and 424 were fixed
up for the short-lived Brandon operation in Kansas (named Brandon Corp. -
West) on ex-RI track around Manhattan, KS - the line is now under operation
by Kyle - after the KS operation shut down, 423 returned to South Omaha
while 424 went up to PLM's (Professional Lease Management) car repair
facility in Miles City, MT, later moving on to Pauline, KS (former Forbes
AFB) - and I found it as 421 in Jun, 1992 stored in a small Santa Fe yard in
Topeka - lettered PLM Railcar Maintenance Co. (with the PLM letters painted
out in black) and by 03 Jun 1996 it turned up at Morris, KS (station point
west of Turner). A careful inspection at that time revealed the "1" is
really the second "4", with the non-one bits painted out - something I
looked into because I knew where the real 421 was.

The real RI 421 along with RI 422 remained in South Omaha until at least 09
Mar 1989 (last time I photographed the pair), and were scrapped on site,
still in RI paint, save for the graffiti that showed up over time.

PLM had an S6 420 in Alliance, NE, this facility became Trancisco Railcar.
I'd concur with the observation that would be the reason 424 was renumbered.

423 (originally painted the same as 424/421 in blue and white) was later
painted grey and lettered Rail Car America, and much later it was repainted
blue for Brandon Rail. A couple of years ago the Buffalo Southern acquired
the 423. I communicated with the BSOR owner back then and he expressed
interest in determining 421's owner, but I could never figure out who it
was - perhaps he's located the owner and succeeded in acquiring it? (Nicholas Pitsch, email to LocoNotes Yahoo group, May 27, 2002)

Former CRI&P C-415s 420-424 were returned to UP in April 1980. CRI&P 421-424 were sold to Brandon Corp. in July 1981 to operate former CRI&P trackage. CRI&P 420 was scrapped by UP. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 74, March 1982, page 33)

Former CRI&P C-415s 421-424 were sold to Brandon Corp. formerly the South Omaha Terminal Railroad. Brandon was to begin the operation of the 68 mile ex CRI&P line between Manhattan and Clifton, Kansas, in July 1981, using the ex CRI&P C-415s as power. (The Mixed Train, August 1981, page 5)

Brandon Railway was an 11-mile terminal railroad in the Omaha area. Sale of the C-415s was on 23 June 1981. (Pacific News, Issue 231, November 1981, page 14)

Former CRI&P C-415s 423 and 424 were repainted to Brandon's saffire blue colors by Railcar Nebraska in mid August 1981. CRI&P 421 and 422 were to be cannibalized for parts. (The Mixed Train, September 1982, page 10)

Former CRI&P C-415 423 was being used by Rail Car America in mid August 1987. (The Mixed train, August 1987, page 11)

Former CRI&P C-415s 421 and 422 were heavily cannibalized by Brandon, still at Omaha in late 1985. (Extra 2200 South, Issue 83, December 1985, page 24)